Improvement in washing-machines



B. F. OADY. Washing-Machine.

No. 214.239. Patented April 15, 1879.

NFEI'ERS, PHDTO-LITHOGRAPHER WASHINGTON. D O

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN F. GADY, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN WASHING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 214,239, dated April 15, 1879 application filed September 13, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. GADY, of the city of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Washing-Machines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact. description.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of Washing-machines in which a rubboard is arranged to be vibrated upon rollers in the vat or tub by means of levers connected to the rub-board and to a rock-shaft mounted on oscillating links or side arms.

The invention consists, first, in the combination and arrangement, with awashing-machine having a rub-board carried by levers connected at one end to a rock-shaft mounted on the end of oscillating side arms or links, of a bar extended from leg to leg at the sides of the machine, and connected to said legs adjustably relative to its distance from the vat, and the oscillatingside arms pivoted to said bar in such relative position as to prevent them from being carried past a perpendicular position by the rearward movement of the rub-board, by which improvement the movement of the levers or handles of the rub-board can be regulated to accommodate the operator, and the operation of the machine is rendered easier and more effective.

It furthermore consists in the combination, with a rub-board carried by levers connected with oscillating arms or links, of a wash-board or roller-frame having pivoted to one end eccentric rectangular legs, whereby the angle of its inclination can be varied, and thus the movement of the levers carrying the rub-board regulated to accommodate the operator of the machine, all constructed and arranged substantially as hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a washing-machine with a portion of the side of the vat broken away to illustrate my improvement-s; Fig. 2, a top view of same; and Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of the wash-board or roller-frame detached.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A is the vat to contain the water and clothes, generally elongated or of rectangular form, and

mounted on legs ll. Upon each of the two long sides of the machine I pivot to the hind leg, 1, a bar, m, and connect it to the forward leg, l, by a bolt passing through a vertical slot, 8, in the leg, so as to admit of raising and lowering that end of the bar.

0 is the oscillating link or side arm, upon the upper end of which the rockshaft g is mounted. This side arm has heretofore been pivoted to a fixed point on the leg of the machine, the result of which was that in drawing the rub-board rearward the side arm was brought into an acute angle with the line of the'wash-board or roller-frame, and the rear end of the levers or handles d carried up too high for convenience and efficiency of the operator, and required extra powerto force them forward, andtheforward motion of the links or side arms had a tendency to lift the rub-board off the was -board.

To obviate these defects and render the operation of the machine more perfect generally, I pivot the side arms, 0, to the adjustable bar m at such relative position as to prevent the rearward movement of the rub-board from carrying the said side arms past a perpendicular position, and further regulate the line of motion of the levers d by raising or lowering the bar m on the leg of the machine.

In order to admit of varying the form of the levers d to suit the operator, and at the same time render them light, strong, and durable, I constructthem of light flexible strips of wood, bent into the form desired, and secure them in their shape by a tie-rod, 0, extended across the bow.

To obtain a uniform bearin g of the vibrating rub-board upon the stationary wash-board or roller-frame throughout the length of thestroke, I connect the rub-board to the levers d by a hinge, h, which allows the rub-board to conform to the variations in the .relative angle of the wash-board.

a is the wash-board or roller-frame, placed stationary on the bottom of the vat A, and which, by my arrangement of the actuating mechanism connected with the rub-board, I am allowed to give the forward inclination essential to an easy and perfect washing process.

The angle of inclination I make adjustable by pivoting to the rear end of the roller-frame ct a rectangular leg, b, having the pivot in one of the corners thereof, so that, by turning the said leg on its pivot, three sides variously distant from the pivot can be brought in use and the end of the roller-frame raised accordingly.

I do not claim, broadly, the combination of the links, rock-shaft, and lovers with the rubboard and wash-board or roller-frame, as I am aware the same is not new but What I do claim is- 1. The combination and arrangement, with the levers d, carrying the rub-board f,and connected at one end to rock-shaft g, of the bar m, pivoted at one end to the leg l and connected at the opposite end to the leg I by a bolt through vertical slots in said leg, and the BENJ. F. CADY.

Witnesses A. BELL, U. BENDIXEN. 

